A tale of two tragedies: Midview schools, sheriff's office linked by deaths

EATON TOWNSHIP -- Two separate, heartbreaking tragedies have linked together the Midview Local School District and the Lorain County Sheriff's Office this summer in ways no one could ever have imagined.

On June 11, Cpl. Thomas Tomasheski, a sheriff's department corrections officer, and his family were victims of an accused drunken driver, Gerald Wetherbee, while the family was returning home from an outing on their boat. The Highway Patrol said Wetherbee's car went left of center of SR 83 and struck the Tomasheski family's car.

Tomasheski and his 13-year-old daughter, Danielle, were severely injured and Tomasheski's wife, Tammy, 36, and his 11-year-old son, Tommy, were killed. Danielle and Tommy attended schools in the Midview district and Tammy was involved with her children's activities.

Two months later, just as the two communities were overcoming the despair from the Tomasheski crash, they have been rocked again.

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On Thursday, sheriff's department corrections officer William Dembie, 42, called the department to say he murdered his wife, 33-year-old Holly Dembie at their 14900 Cowley Road, Grafton Township, home. Holly Dembie was a special needs paraprofessional and had spent the past two years with the Midview school district at West Elementary School and was moving to East Elementary School this year.

People from the school district and the sheriff's office have said the only thing they can do is be strong together during this time of crisis.

Friends recalled Holly Dembie as loving life and the children she taught. Friends of the Tomasheski family recall them as a strong family, with an unbreakable bond to the community.

Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti said the sheriff's office is like family, because the officers work together in trying situations on a daily basis, so the events that have unfolded in the past two months have taken their toll.

"It obviously has effects because we are all like family members here, we have worked together so long and doing the same job. It does effect you; people forget we are just human beings. We are law enforcement, corrections, still human beings. And sadness when these type of things happen, it pays its toll on you. It's tough on everybody," Stammitti said.

He and Chief Deputy Dennis Cavanaugh have known Tomasheski for years because his father, also named Tom, is a retired sheriff's department sergeant. Both men said when something happens like this, they often encourage fellow employees to seek counseling, if they need to, in order to cope.

John Kuhn, superintendent of Midview schools, said they too are "prepared to do whatever's necessary" to help the students cope with the grieving process.

"Our teachers serve as the front line," Kuhn said, because the teachers tend to know the children's needs the best.

While he wasn't sure how involved Tammy Tomasheski was with the schools, he said he knew she was "extremely involved with the church."

Through her church, Chestnut Ridge Baptist, she worked with many of the school's students.

Her daughter, Danielle, will return to school, he said, and school administrators have been talking about what accommodations she might need, as well as support other students might need.

"We'll bring in whatever support is needed, whether it's time or professionals," he said.

Kara Kaiser, Holly Dembie's friend and colleague at West Elementary School, said she has known Holly for roughly two years. Holly Dembie loved the kids she worked with -- "all of her kids, any of them, whether they were assigned to her or not. She loved them and wanted to do anything for them."

Kaiser said Holly Dembie worked with the same children for years -- including a relative with special needs -- and she doesn't know how the grieving process will take hold.

"I don't know what they are going to do. I don't know. She was so, something stable for them. I am not sure how it's going to affect them. I keep telling myself and my friends she doesn't want us to sit down and cry. She would be kicking us in the hind end."

Kaiser said the Midview family is very strong and will stand together.

"We are very supportive of each other and our kids ... . We have to be. We don't have a choice. Tammy and Tommy and Holly would not want us to stop," she said.

Stammitti also said the department can't stop doing what they do -- serve the public -- when they are grappling with calamity. This especially hit home when Joy Sanchez, a friend of William Dembie, was the dispatcher who took the call from Dembie when he stated he had killed his wife. On the 911 call, you can hear Sanchez was disturbed by the call, at times she was out of breath and shaken.

"They do a difficult job here and when you know a person personally, it's harder. But they are professionals and even though it does affect them that way, they do the job. You can tell it was bothering her ... that would bother anybody," Stammitti said.

Stammitti said the department is overwhelmed, but hanging on. Members of the Midview district agreed.

"When something like that happens, no matter what differences, they have, we have to come together in those instances," Stammitti said.

"I didn't really know the Tomasheski family, but I do know that as a Midview family we are very close and we are there for each other and we will get through this," said West Elementary School teacher Susan Myers, a friend of Holly Dembie's.

Patty Hamilton, principal at Midview West agreed that "the Midview community is close and supportive of each other. It's a wonderful place to work and everybody is there for each other."